


Sharing Space

by hakaseheart



Category: Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger
Genre: M/M, WriteBet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-28
Updated: 2014-07-28
Packaged: 2018-02-10 17:52:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2034438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hakaseheart/pseuds/hakaseheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When it came to dealing with problems in the kitchen, Don had been through it all.</p>
<p>Until now, that is.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sharing Space

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ekala](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ekala/gifts).



Extinguished pilot lights, ovens that ran hot, iceboxes that leaked more than froze. These were all things that Don had dealt with in his lifetime, and had learned to work with. Not enough space to store all the cooking supplies? Hang hooks on the walls and ceilings, and all the supplies would be in easy reach. Nowhere near enough utensils? He'd learned how to stir batter effectively with a knife.

No, when it came to dealing with problems in the kitchen, Don had been through it all.

Until now, that is.

The galley in the Galleon was small enough as it was, only barely big enough for Don to fit all of his supplies. That was one thing he put his foot down on, when it came to joining the crew, that all of his kitchen gear came along with him. Marvelous was annoyed, until he realized that meant Don could make a much wider variety of food for him, then he'd told the others to deal with it and make space as needed.

Of course, Marvelous and Luka didn't really have any things in the kitchen whatsoever, both of them having been entirely okay with just eating as much takeout as they could get their hands on. Which meant that his number one obstacle was none other than the first mate himself.

The first clue had come when Don had been looking for a spot to store his cookpots. He'd found a lower cabinet big enough, only to open it and see a stack of cake pans already inside. Wondering who would have such a thorough set of cookware, Don had peeked out over the cabinet door, back towards the main cabin. Almost immediately he was able to caught Joe's eye, as the other man had been paused in his setups to watch intently as Don had pawed through the galley.

Their eyes met for a long moment, before Joe finally looked away and went back to his situps.

Don sighed, and fiddled with the space in the cabinet. If he unstacked the pans and moved them to the upper shelf, there was just enough room to squeeze his pots as well. Resigned to deal with it for now, he closed the cabinet doors and climbed back to his feet, just to be met by a waiting Joe.

“Hakase,” he said abruptly, nearly getting a shriek from the blonde in reply. “...don't touch my things.”

For a moment Don sputtered, before he found words. “Th-those are yours?” he asked, his voice already an octave higher. “Joe, do you...bake?”

Joe scowled. “Maybe. Don't touch my things.”

“Hey, Joe...” Don continued tentatively as Joe turned to walk away. “...Captain Marvelous said we should, y'know...share space? Is there anything I can do...to um, keep your stuff in order?”

The taller man stopped, then looked halfway back over his shoulder. “Yeah. Don't touch it.” Then he stalked out of the galley and back to his workout bench, leaving Don slumped against the counter with a defeated sigh.

~

Two days later, Don finished up some maintenance work on the Galleon's engine before washing up and heading to the galley to start on dinner. He was still learning his way around, and wanted to give himself extra time to make sure everything was as perfect as it could be before he presented the meal to his new crew.

When he walked into the galley, however, he was immediately greeted with the sight of Joe stirring heavily at a bowl of what could only be batter. “Ah, Joe,” Don said cheerily, trying to keep his good mood going. “Are you making a cake for dinner?” He plucked his apron from the hook on the wall, then busied himself with pulling out the pans he'd need to make dinner.

Joe answered him with a grunt, which Don took as the most positive sign he could probably hope to get. He focused on getting dinner ready instead, pulling out ingredients and placing them neatly on the countertops as he worked.

The first time he noticed his things shoved to the side, he let it slide. There wasn't anything to be gained from picking a fight, after all.

The second time he found his setup in disarray, he frowned, but bit his tongue. The last thing he wanted to do was start an argument just before dinner.

The third time, however, saw the flour pushed almost to the point of falling off the countertop, and Don rushed to grab it just as it began to tip over. “Joe!” he cried out, just a little more sharply than he intended. “Please be careful? This was almost a huge mess.”

All he got in reply was another grunt. So he sighed, rearranged his things again, and went back to work.

Five minutes later, two eggs crashed to the floor, splattering across the tile and nearly giving Don a heart attack. “Joe! Pl-”

“Sorry,” came Joe's hurried reply. He grabbed a towel and began to wipe the egg up from the floor, avoiding Don's gaze entirely as he did so.

“A-apology accepted,” Don stammered, already weirdly interrupted in his lecture. “But, maybe can you work on this after dinner's in the oven? I mean, we won't be eating it until afterwards anyways, right?”

Joe stood up abruptly, then walked over to the sink to rinse off the towel. “...no.”

“No?” Don blinked, surprised at the answer. “But, why not?”

“...because.” The towel rinsed clean, Joe wrung it out and hung it up to dry.

This was all too much for Don. All he was doing was trying to coexist with the only other cook on the ship, but maybe the kitchen really was just too small to handle both of them at once. He wondered if they could even manage to coexist in the kitchen  _without_ cooking at the same time. “L-listen, maybe we can work out a schedule? I'll cook only during certain hours, and, and you can bake during different hours, and tha-”

Joe interrupted then, turning to tower over him. “I said no, Hakase,” he said, his voice firm.

Don pouted in frustration, his brow furrowing deeply as he tried to understand. “But  _why_ ?”

“...because,” Joe finally responded, casting his eyes to the side. “...I want to cook with you.”

The words hit Don like a speeding bike. “You... _want_ ...to...cook...” he began to echo back, trying to make sense of the statement.

Joe sighed. “Yeah,” he confirmed, then closed what was left of the gap between them. “I do.” Then he reached out with one hand, grabbing Don by the shoulder, and leaned down to kiss the blonde firmly on the lips.

The kiss was short, but in no way incomplete. When Joe pulled away, Don found himself dazed and breathless, forgetting entirely what he'd even been saying.

“Ah...I...” Don floundered for a moment, trying to find a foothold in the conversation. “...oh.”

The taller man chuckled. “Yeah.”

Don swallowed and licked his lips. “...maybe we can figure out our way around this kitchen together, okay?”

Joe smiled and nodded in reply.

Dinner was a little late that night, but Marvelous didn't complain once he heard that there was cake for dessert. He didn't even question why it was iced in green and blue.


End file.
